The Flex Association announced on its website that a new report has found Seattle’s 2024 delivery pay ordinance has negatively impacted local businesses, app-based workers, and consumers. The report indicates that the ordinance has led to lower revenue, fewer orders, and reduced earnings.
According to the Flex Association’s report, the rise of app-based delivery and rideshare platforms has enabled consumers to access transportation and meals more conveniently, empowered workers with schedule flexibility, and driven revenue to local businesses. The report argues that these platforms have become integral to urban ecosystems because of their tri-party benefits—businesses, consumers, and workers. However, it contends that certain regulatory interventions, like Seattle’s ordinance, disrupt that balance and introduce unintended distortions.
In the first 13 weeks after Seattle’s ordinance went into effect, sales by local businesses dropped by $17.6 million. The report attributes this decline to increased delivery costs and reduced consumer demand, which hurt restaurants and retailers relying on app-based delivery orders. It frames this revenue loss as evidence that rigid pay mandates can suppress economic activity in local markets…